The Sun Deep Within the Mist

Luther had deeply parasitized Lieutenant Philip's body, Hypnosis him and causing him to lose his memory of that period.

Lieutenant Philip, completely unaware that he had become Luther's Flesh, continued to act according to his usual logic, showing no abnormality. He led his sailors in causing a ruckus in the town, but ultimately dared not disobey orders and returned to the warship "Paz" before curfew began. According to the Rear Admiral's orders, all Fleet members were to return to their ships that night and strictly adhere to discipline, awaiting the next day's operation.

When boarding the warship, Luther was a little nervous, worried that the Archbishop of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun might have left some advanced detection methods on board. Fortunately, this did not happen, and even the membrane disappeared when the ship entered port.

That Archbishop is very confident in himself, believing that nothing will go wrong within his control... commendable.

Luther thought to himself.

He shared the view with Lieutenant Philip, watching the oblivious officer board the ship, loudly complain about the poor accommodations, chat with other officers, bully the sailors, and finally fall asleep after a long while.

Nothing happened that night.

The next morning, the entire Fleet slowly came to life, like a giant beast awakening. Under the command of the officers, the soldiers maneuvered the Ships out of the harbor in formation and headed forward.

After some time, they finally managed to form a convoy off the coast of Aroca Island. Centered around the peculiar modified Steam, the other ships escorted and protected it as it moved forward.

Lieutenant Philip's ship, the "Paz," was on the port side of the Fleet. As the Sailor, he wasn't diligently performing his duties, but instead stood on the deck looking around. In the thick Fog, he could vaguely make out an old man in White Robe standing at the bow of the middle ship, with people respectfully following behind him.

"That's the so-called Pierre..."

He said it Consciousness.

"Keep your voice down!"

Upon hearing this, the second mate quickly intervened, "That's the Archbishop of the Church, a very important figure who has lived since the time of Roselle!"

"Ha!"

The second mate's words only fueled Philip's enthusiasm, and he began gossiping excitedly, "Captain, you're from a local army, you don't know this Bishop Pierre... Anyone from the Trier nobility knows what kind of guy he is..."

"Don't talk nonsense..."

Although the second mate was verbally trying to stop him, a look of curiosity appeared in his eyes, clearly indicating that he had become very interested.

Seeing this, Philip continued smugly, "This fellow was originally a nobleman, but he chose the wrong side when Roselle was emperor, and his whole family was arrested. He himself was spared because he already had ties with Church, but his other relatives were all killed..."

He was very young and certainly not a witness to these events; he had only heard about them from gossip within aristocratic circles.

"After that, he went mad, hiding away in the religious texts research institute and refusing to come out... Later, somehow he became a hero in overthrowing Roselle and transformed into Archbishop... Even now, he still shouts things like Roselle is sin every day, and people are tired of hearing it."

In other words, this Archbishop had a grudge against Roselle.

As Luther listened to these things from inside his stomach, he felt extremely uneasy, fearing that the Bishop Pierre Church notice the suicidal fool present and turn his attention to them.

Fortunately, Pierre either didn't hear or didn't care, and simply stood at the bow, looking ahead.

Four priests stood beside him, one of whom unfolded a nautical chart depicting the course of the "Black Throne" and showed it to him.

"This is pretty much it."

Archbishop Pierre gazed ahead, his clear eyes reflecting the thick Fog. Suddenly, something emerged from the depths of the Fog. It was the shadow of a ship, cast in deep black on the Fog, its exact shape indistinct, only its ancient form discernible, as if it were a creation from a bygone era.

Tell them to try making contact.

Major General François stood behind the bishop, giving orders to the liaison officer.

"Waaah-"

-"

His orders were swiftly carried out. At the front of the fleet, several escort ships immediately spewed out large amounts of Steam, accelerated, and chased after the shadowy Ships.

However, a strange thing happened: despite the ships sailing at high speed, they were unable to catch up with the sailing ship, and the distance between them remained unchanged.

"Ha, Roselle did indeed modify it."

The young general sneered and called out, "Tell them to come back."

After the liaison officer went to relay the order, he raised his voice and shouted, "Your Archbishop Your Excellency, it's time for you to act!"

Pierre stared at the shadows deep in the fog, a clear look of disgust flashing in his eyes. Then, he slowly raised his hands.

"Praise the Sun," he said.

The next instant, Luther saw a Sun deep within the thick Gray Fog.

Sunlight.

The intense sunlight.

The intense sunlight, reaching its zenith, came from the other side of the sea, like a sharp sword tearing through the mist and piercing the eyes of everyone present. The light was clear and pure, carrying extremely high temperature and a pure sense of dispelling all Filth and evil, spreading out in an instant.

The next instant, golden light engulfed everything.

"Um."

When the Fleet opened their eyes again, the surroundings had changed drastically.

The intense light and heat dispelled the fog, and his vision was unobstructed. He could clearly see a vast Ocean and sky. But at the edge of his vision, thick gray Fog piled up in all directions, like walls, enclosing the world.

Within a vast circular area, the fog created a "vacuum."

As a result, the entire sea area became incredibly clear.

In this circular area of sea, Intis's warships were lined up neatly and orderly, their sterns leaving white trails on the water's surface.

Opposite them, a peculiar three-masted sailing ship appeared.

Its design is ancient and elegant, and it is about 80 or 90 meters long. The hull is entirely black, and two of the three sails are also black, while the middle one is pure white, creating a strange and discordant feeling.

The true form of the "Black Throne"!

What's strange is that the ship's exterior is covered with layer upon layer of silver chains. While they don't necessarily impede navigation, they're still unsettling to look at. At the end of the chains, on the rudder, hangs a large black padlock.

As the Fog was forcibly dispelled, the black three-masted sailing ship immediately reacted; it began to become transparent, as if it wanted to enter the Spirit World to evade pursuit.

"Start up!"

Just then, François shouted.

"Boom!"

The strange ship he was on fired its cannons, the shells wreathed in gold, traveling a great distance before crashing around the "Black Throne." An unseen force followed, the Spirit World around it rapidly solidified, becoming impenetrable!